The Maurya Empire was a geographically extensive Iron Age historical power founded by ChandraguptaMaurya which dominated ancient India between c. 322 and 187 BCE. Originating from the kingdom of Magadha in the Indo-Gangetic Plain in the eastern side of the Indian subcontinent, the empire had its capital city at Pataliputra (modern Patna).The empire was the largest to have ever existed in the Indian subcontinent, spanning over 5 million square kilometres ( at its zenith under Ashoka.